Ecstatic Trance to Overcome Racism
Introducing Ecstatic Trance to Overcome Racism
Someone recently asked me if ecstatic trance can bring a person out of the world of bigotry and racism. When a person begins to value personal growth and discovers the power of ecstatic trance as an opening to this personal growth the person cannot deny the origins of ecstatic trance in the hunting-gathering cultures of the world. With this realization the ways of the hunter-gatherer becomes valued and in valuing these cultures the person opens to themselves to what can be learned from other cultures and begins to value this cultural diversity. Bigotry and racism comes from feeling threatened or afraid of any diversity. Though the person who is open to experimenting with ecstatic trance is likely already open to this diversity.
In my book “Ecstatic Soul Retrieval: Shamanism and Psychotherapy” I explore how ecstatic trance can be introduced into a psychotherapy session such that the expectations held by the client of a traditional psychotherapy session are met. I find that three postures, the Lady of Cholula, the Jivaro Underworld Posture and the Feathered Serpent Posture can be used in a therapy session in a way acceptable to the new client, though I would not initially use these names. The Lady of Cholula is sitting in an attentive posture of waiting for an answer from a trance experience. In the Jivaro Posture the person is laying on the couch as in psychoanalysis to journey into ones unconscious mind, and the Feathered Serpent is standing with hands on the waist in a posture of determination for giving up some old habit in favor of a healthier new habit. Sitting, laying or standing in the posture and discussing the feeling the posture expresses can make sense in the therapy session. Drumming played softly in the back ground can be explained as a distraction from interfering thoughts thus facilitating going into a trance, and discussing the images that come forth from these trance experiences as spirit guides are ways of introducing these elements of ecstatic trance into a traditional therapy session. With this introduction and with the client experiencing the power of these postures in bringing new insights, the origin of these techniques from the shamanic ways of their ancestral hunter-gatherers can eventually be described and acceptable to the client. With this approach those who have lived in a narrower world of racist thinking are opened to a experiencing a world of greater diversity, thus adding a new layer of life beyond just the resolution of the problem that brought the person to therapy and their possible racist thinking.
Someone recently asked me if ecstatic trance can bring a person out of the world of bigotry and racism. When a person begins to value personal growth and discovers the power of ecstatic trance as an opening to this personal growth the person cannot deny the origins of ecstatic trance in the hunting-gathering cultures of the world. With this realization the ways of the hunter-gatherer becomes valued and in valuing these cultures the person opens to themselves to what can be learned from other cultures and begins to value this cultural diversity. Bigotry and racism comes from feeling threatened or afraid of any diversity. Though the person who is open to experimenting with ecstatic trance is likely already open to this diversity.
In my book “Ecstatic Soul Retrieval: Shamanism and Psychotherapy” I explore how ecstatic trance can be introduced into a psychotherapy session such that the expectations held by the client of a traditional psychotherapy session are met. I find that three postures, the Lady of Cholula, the Jivaro Underworld Posture and the Feathered Serpent Posture can be used in a therapy session in a way acceptable to the new client, though I would not initially use these names. The Lady of Cholula is sitting in an attentive posture of waiting for an answer from a trance experience. In the Jivaro Posture the person is laying on the couch as in psychoanalysis to journey into ones unconscious mind, and the Feathered Serpent is standing with hands on the waist in a posture of determination for giving up some old habit in favor of a healthier new habit. Sitting, laying or standing in the posture and discussing the feeling the posture expresses can make sense in the therapy session. Drumming played softly in the back ground can be explained as a distraction from interfering thoughts thus facilitating going into a trance, and discussing the images that come forth from these trance experiences as spirit guides are ways of introducing these elements of ecstatic trance into a traditional therapy session. With this introduction and with the client experiencing the power of these postures in bringing new insights, the origin of these techniques from the shamanic ways of their ancestral hunter-gatherers can eventually be described and acceptable to the client. With this approach those who have lived in a narrower world of racist thinking are opened to a experiencing a world of greater diversity, thus adding a new layer of life beyond just the resolution of the problem that brought the person to therapy and their possible racist thinking.
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